Mother's Day

I find Mother's Day to be a bittersweet Holiday...Yes, it is a time to celebrate motherhood, but for so many it is also a time of shattered dreams, loss and mourning.

There was a period of time during which I dreaded going out on Mother's Day. Even though i was blessed enough to be a mother, I was still mourning the loss of the baby I had lost, along with all the hopes and dreams that unborn child represented.

I know I am not alone.

There were two moms in particular that I wanted to hug and honor this morning at church, but neither one was there. I wasn't surprised, really. But I wanted them to know that I continue to care. One lost a child to very early pre-term birth, the other to a congenital disease when she was five months old.

I wrote both moms cards and enclosed a small magnet hand made in Roatan of a cross with a heart in the center. The child they each have lost will forever hold a central place in their heart, and will never be replaced. And I hope the cross reminds them that when they grieve and feel the need to be carried, they know there is One to whom they can turn.

Mother's Day isn't happy for everyone, it is also one of the saddest days for many...and I believe we need to be sensitive to that.

The church needs to be a place these women may also be celebrated, uplifted and heal; finding love from others.

Is there someone who has lost a child, or who is suffering from infertility or other losses (abortion is also a loss...will these women find healing in the church?) that you can acknowledge in a special way? They will remember how compassionate your caring is.

Peace.